Get to Know: Pontus Jansson

Pontus Jansson became our fourth summer signing as he arrived from Leeds United last night. The defender joins Thomas Frank's group on a three-year-contract for an undisclosed fee. Get to know more about our new man below.

He was born in Arlöv, Sweden as Pontus Sven Gustav Jansson on 13 February 1991, a birthday shared with Charlie MacDonald, who, ironically, joined The Bees exactly 11 years ago today.

Pontus joined his local club Arlövs BI at the age of 13, spending two years there before moving to Malmö Fotbollförening in 2006, the club currently managed by former Bees boss Uwe Rösler.

After three years in the youth set-up with Malmö FF, Jansson made his professional debut as an 18-year-old against Djurgardens IF in September 2009. Jansson’s early games were played as a forward before he settled on a more defensive role before the start of the 2010 Allsvenskan season.

That change proved pivotal in his career as Jansson went on to cement his place the following year, making 18 appearances as Malmö lifted the Swedish title.

Two more Swedish top-flight titles, and a Swedish Supercupen, followed over the next four seasons, before he departed for Serie A side Torino in July 2014. In total, Jansson had played 128 games in Sweden, scoring seven goals.

His two years in Turin weren’t as successful. He made just 16 league appearances, and 25 in total, scoring once. In the summer of 2016 he was on the move again, this time to England and Leeds United.

An instant hit at Elland Road, Jansson made 34 Sky Bet Championship appearances during his debut campaign in England. He was voted the Championship Player of the Month for December and earned a spot in the EFL Championship Team of the Season.

Over the next two seasons, he would make a further 81 league appearances for The Whites, winning another Player of the Month award for December 2017 and making the 2018/19 PFA Championship Team of the Year.

Jansson represented Sweden at every level from Under-16 to Under-21 before making his senior debut against Bahrain in January 2012. He was an unused substitute in all three of Sweden’s games at Euro 2016 but did experience tournament football with two appearances at last summer’s World Cup. He’s captained his nation on three occasions and has 20 caps to his name in total.

In total, Pontus arrives with nearly 300 professional appearances, three league titles, a Swedish SuperCup trophy, and two Team of the Year honours to his name.